An AI agent costs money in three places: the setup, the monthly plan that keeps it running, and the model usage you pay to the AI provider. Most price lists only show one of the three, which is why two quotes for the same agent can look ten times apart. This guide lays out what we charge for each part, what other firms charge, and how to tell which number you should be comparing.
All of our prices on this page were last reviewed on October 29, 2026. If you want the short version, the pricing page has every figure in one place.
What counts as an AI agent here
An agent is software that takes a defined job, such as answering a new lead, sorting an inbox or chasing a missing document, and does the steps itself inside your tools. It reads, decides within limits you set, and writes back to your systems. A person approves anything risky, like sending money or deleting records. If the job has fixed steps every time, you probably need a plain workflow instead, which costs less. Our write-up on AI agents vs automations explains the difference with examples.
Setup cost by number of agents
When you put agents on a managed plan, the setup fee depends on how many agents we build in the first round.
- 1 to 3 agents: setup from $3,000.
- 4 to 8 agents: setup from $6,000 to $12,000.
- 9 or more agents: setup from $12,000 to $30,000.
Setup covers mapping the job, connecting the tools, writing the rules the agent follows, testing on your real examples, and a handover call. The range inside each band comes from the number of systems involved, how clean your data is, and how much review the work needs before anything goes to a customer.
A single agent without a plan
If you want one agent built and handed over, with no monthly plan, the price is $4,000 for the first agent. You own it, it runs in your accounts, and you or your team look after it. Many owners start here, see the agent work for a month, and then decide whether a plan makes sense.
Monthly managed plans
On a managed plan we run, watch and improve the agents for you. There are three tiers.
- Starter: $4,000 a month, setup $3,000, up to 5 agents, replies to support requests within 24 hours.
- Growth: $7,600 a month, setup $6,000, up to 15 agents, replies within 4 hours.
- Scale: $15,600 a month, setup $12,000, unlimited agents, a 99.9% uptime target and 20 developer hours a month for new work.
None of the tiers meter tokens or charge per conversation. The plan price is the plan price.
Tell us what the agents should do and we'll send a fixed quote with setup and monthly costs.
Model usage, the cost that sits outside our invoice
Every agent calls an AI model, and the model provider bills for that usage. For most small businesses that runs about $30 to $150 a month. You pay it straight to the provider on your own account, so you can see every charge and you keep the account if you ever leave us. We estimate the number before the build, using your real volumes.
Pilots and production systems
Larger companies often want a pilot before they commit. Across the market, an agent pilot runs about $9,200 to $14,400, and a production agent system for a mid-sized company runs about $18,000 to $68,000. Those ranges cover more integration work, security review, testing and documentation than a small business usually needs. If someone quotes you a production-sized number for a single small job, ask what is in the scope.
What the rest of the market charges
Here is how the main options compare on price, using public figures we gathered in October 2026.
- Doing it yourself: $0 in fees, paid for in your own hours.
- Off-the-shelf AI tools: about $19 to $199 a month per tool, limited to what each tool does.
- Hiring an AI engineer: $150,000 a year or more before benefits.
- Agencies: about $10,000 to $30,000 or more a month on retainer.
- Other managed agent services: from about $5,000 a month.
- OrchestriAI: managed plans from $4,000 a month, setup from $3,000.
The table on the pricing page adds time to go live, who manages it day to day, and where your data lives. If you are weighing a hire, our comparison of managed AI agents vs an in-house hire goes through the trade-offs one by one.
Six things that move the price
- 1Number of systems. Each tool the agent reads from or writes to adds connection work and testing.
- 2Data quality. Messy fields and duplicate records need cleanup rules before an agent can trust them.
- 3Review steps. Every place a person approves the output adds screens, alerts and tests.
- 4Volume. Thousands of runs a day need queues, retries and rate limits that ten runs a day do not.
- 5Sensitive data. Health, money and legal records add access rules and audit logs.
- 6How much judgment the job needs. Sorting into three buckets is cheaper than writing a custom reply.
Worked examples (sample figures)
These are sample shapes to show how the bands work, not quotes for any real client.
A two-location dental office wants one agent to answer missed calls by text and book patients into open slots. That is one agent with two systems, the phone line and the scheduler. Built and handed over, it is a first agent at $4,000. Put on the Starter plan, it is $3,000 setup and $4,000 a month, with room for four more agents later.
A 20-agent real estate team wants agents for lead replies, showing follow-ups, CRM cleanup, listing prep and weekly owner reports. That is five agents across a CRM, an MLS feed, email and a calendar, so it falls in the 4 to 8 agent band at about $6,000 to $12,000 setup on the Growth plan.
How to keep the cost down
Start with one job that has a clear start and finish. Use the tools you already pay for. Pick who reviews the output before the build starts, not after the first mistake. Measure the hours the job takes today, so you can check the agent against a real number. Our free hours saved calculator helps with that last step.
How you pay for it
Payments follow the size of the invoice, not a fixed rule. Small jobs are paid upfront, larger ones in stages tied to progress. The full schedule, with examples, is in how automation pricing and payment work.
Where to go next
If you are not sure an agent is the right tool, the paid readiness assessment maps your work and gives you a fixed quote, and its fee is credited to the build. If you already know the job, describe it in the form below and we reply with a price range within one business day. You work directly with Shariq, the founder, from the first message to handover.
For how agency prices compare, read our AI automation agency pricing guide. To check payback before you buy, use the steps in automation ROI before you buy.
